This symposium will cover the design and in-situ liquid-phase transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization of self-assembling colloidal nanomaterials, which serve as the primary building blocks for functional nanosystems. Over recent years, extensive research efforts have achieved a greatly enriched diversity of such colloidal nanosystems, ranging from inorganic nanoparticles, polymeric micelles, DNA origami, proteins, 2D materials, to their hybrid forms, relevant with applications in energy, homeland security and human health. One prominent feature of such materials is that they exhibit collective properties and functions tunable by the dynamic and adapting structures. Our proposed symposium will thus focus on two key research themes. The first part of the symposium will focus on the development of emerging self-assembly methodologies. A non-exhaustive list includes field-driven self-assembly (electrical, magnetic, pressure, etc.), self-assembly in confined spaces and interfaces, and top-down self-assembly methods. These methods entail engineering opportunities on non-equilibrium thermodynamics, nanoscale fluctuation under confinement, and microfabrication processing methods. The second part of the symposium will focus on in-situ TEM characterization for these colloidal nanosystems, with an emphasis on their dynamic transformation. In the last decade, a toolbox of complementary methods has been developed to probe the real-time structural and functional dynamics, which have revolutionized the understanding of colloidal behaviors in native solution state. In-situ TEM have been developed and utilized to study the transform dynamics and mechanism of colloidal nanosystems, such as biomineralization, superlattice formation, protein crystallization and electrochemical evolution. The goal of this symposium is to bring together renowned researchers from these different disciplines who have contributed to improved understanding of the physics and chemistry in dynamic colloidal nanosystems and to promote the crosstalk and development of future directions in the intersections of frontiers in chemistry, soft-matter physics, materials science and nanotechnology.

biological synthesis (assembly) biomimetic (assembly) colloid metal nanoscale nucleation & growth phase transformation polymer self-assembly transmission electron microscopy (TEM)